Breaking Sanity
by Emil Lime
Summary: The C-Virus sample has been stolen and Leon has been sent to find it. What should be a simple recovery mission becomes deadly when Leon wakes to find himself within a facility controlled by a sociopath, one who plans on unleashing hell itself. His life, his friends and the world are on the line. Every minute counts because when time runs out, nothing will be left to save.
1. So Far, So Good

A/N: Hello! The plot bunnies have bullied me into writing another story. So I decided, what the heck, and BAM, I posted the first chapter just to see what you guys think. Just a note, the title of each chapter actually comes from the lyrics of a song-Anyone care to venture a guess?

Anyway, on with the story! Please review and let me know what you think!

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Chapter One: So Far, So Good

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Everything was red before it was black, and when Leon came too it was still black. His head hurt, his neck ached and the pain in his wrists and elbows was almost too much to bear. As he opened his eyes once again, he looked around the darkness, attempting to pick out any details. But other than what his body was telling him, he couldn't figure out anything else.

He was sitting, arms wrenched behind his back and handcuffed securely behind the stiff back of a chair. His back was forced straight. Even the slightest attempt at moving caused pain to shoot through his arms and up to his shoulders. With his ankles strapped securely to the legs of the chair, he was officially stuck where he was and he sure as hell didn't like it.

Impenetrable darkness filled his vision, but upon listening to his surroundings, he could tell he was completely alone. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing, though. Regardless, he spoke, "Hunnigan? Hunnigan, come in?" He could feel the weight of the ear piece but it wasn't working. Figures.

_Well, it was worth a shot…_

Sitting up a little straighter, he called into the darkness, "Hello? Does someone want to come out here and reveal his evil plan? I'm listening." Another long shot but one he figured he'd try. Letting out a sigh, he turned his head again, "Just where the hell am I?"

A crackle and a pop came, something sounding like a speaker coming to life before him, "Agent Leon S. Kennedy, it's so good you've finally woken up." The agent perked up at his name being used, the tenor male voice lingering in his ears.

Leon spoke, though his words lacked any real concern for his situation, "I'm glad you finally answered. I was starting to feel lonely."

A small chuckle came from the box, along with a metallic click of what sounded like ball bearings banging together. The noise continued in the background as the mystery man spoke again, "I apologize for my lateness. After all, you're not the only one I'm looking after."

"What?" Anger flared through Leon, his body jerking him forward before the pain reminded him of his predicament.

"Now, now," the speaker cooed, "Don't be so hasty. I'd hate for you to hurt yourself before the big show."

Leon growled, eyes glaring forward at what he hoped was the source of the voice, "I'm not interested in attending any 'show' you have to offer." The voice simply laughed at him, the mocking nature of it coming over the speaker very well. It only made the agent scowl._ Great, he's toying with me…_

After a pause and the catching of his breath, the man spoke, "You slay me, Agent Kennedy. Always have. Sadly, sir, you don't get a choice in the matter. You aren't simply _attending _the show, after all. You're my main attraction! Now how would everyone feel if the big star didn't make his debut? They'd boo me right off of the stage and that wouldn't be any fun, would it, Agent?" There was another bit of laughter, causing Leon to grit his teeth.

"Whatever you're after, I won't let you get away with it."

"Why Agent Kennedy, you slay me yet again," a grin played through his words as the man continued, "I've already gotten away with it. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here, would you?" He let out another laugh.

Sucking in a deep breath, Leon cleared his mind. This darkness was making him agitated and so was being locked up. He needed to calm down, less he play right into this guy's hands. The metallic clicking ended then, only to start back up again. Leon furrowed his eyebrows. Just what the hell was that sound?

The voice finally spoke, "Anyway, I've got to run. Like I said, there are others who need my attention. For now, I suppose, I'll leave you with a little parting gift. Enjoy."

Blinding lights flicked on and Leon had to slam his eyes shut against the pain. Biting his lip through the sting of the rays upon his eyes, he gradually began to become use to the bright fluorescents above him. Slowly, he opened them again, a small black box propped up on a tri-stand greeting him. Looking just past the box, he could see himself, a reflection in cool colored glass. Turning his head, he watched himself glance around the room, each wall a mirror and looking back at him. He could see the odd shape of the room, a hexagonal shape, a mirror on each of its six walls. Looking within the reflections, he could see the back of himself, the mechanics of the handcuffs coming into view.

_I guess when he was planning this little hellhole, he didn't plan on that._ Twisting his wrists, causing pain to shoot through his arm, he managed to get his left palm inwards. Fingers lingered upwards, touching the metal gadget attached to his wrist. Groping at the small device, his calloused fingers grazed upon a key hole, one no bigger than the size of a pin. There was no way he'd be able to unlock them. _Time for plan B, I suppose._ Taking a deep breath and ignoring the agonizing pain, he worked his arm up the back of the chair. No matter the pain, even with the threat of dislocating his shoulder, he needed to free his arms from behind the chair. Forcing his screaming limb to continue their snail pace, Leon's attention was grabbed when a hissing sound came from in front of him. His focus shifted from the mirror he was watching his handiwork in to the one that sat directly in front of him, the speaker box blocking his view.

A small amount of fog worked its way up from under the mirror, the gray matter floating up before dissipating in the air. After that, the mirror slowly began to lift, revealing black bars smothered with a red paint Leon recognized as blood. As the glass ascended, Leon could feel himself pale as he looked into what lie beyond the mirror, beyond the bars.

The creature was grotesque in nature, skin peeling and breaking into boils and hives, some of which secreted a thick creamy puss that caked the rest of the creature's body. Its hair was matted to his forehead with the stuff and the smell of it caused Leon to gag. In some places, skin had all but rotted away, exposing muscles that were also decaying, though at a slower rate. Leon could see that its lips were already missing, yellow teeth exposed in a snarl as glazed eyes glared towards him. One of the eye's had hemorrhaged, filling the white space with a gruesome red that threated to take over the iris, which were already losing their shape and color.

"I guess this is what he meant by 'parting gift'," Leon spoke louder as he worked to get his arm up faster, "I should've told him I've never been one for pets." A sickening sound came as the creature hunched forward, one foot lazily catching its rotting body. As it took another step, a disgusting sloshing came, some of its skin falling to the floor. Its broken eyes looked towards Leon, a loan groan coming from its parted teeth.

The bars before it began to slide up, the metal scraping and rattling as it rose. The creature waited patiently, bloodied eye trained on Leon.

"Shit," Leon, adrenaline pumping through his veins now, began to pull faster, his arm no longer hurting under the strain. As the bars reached their height, he heard them click to a stop and the creature began to walk. It wobbled forward, its balance terrible and with each step, something new fell from its body. As it flung its arms to remove the speaker box from its presence, causing it to land close to the mirrors to the left, the hemorrhaging eye fell free, the nerves connecting it exposed and oozing with puss.

"Shit, shit, shit," Leon chanted, making a final jerk on his arm just as the creature reached his chair. In a moment, his arms were free and already twisting over his head to make their way to the front of his body. Shoving himself towards the creature, he rammed into it, knocking it, and himself, forward. With a spiteful wail, it fell, Leon landing over it. He caught himself on his hands, his palms resting against the slimly creature's blistered body. A sting came to his ankles, which had not yet been freed, as they twisted about in the chains that held them.

A flick of pain crossed his face as he pushed himself back up, landing on the chair again just as the creature made to get up. "Just stay down," not like that would work but saying it vented his frustration a little. Looking around, his eyes landed on the disheveled speaker box and its tri-stand. It was exactly what he needed right about now.

Turning his attention back to the creature before him, it had already made its way to its feet, bloody eyes watching him as it advanced again. "Sorry, I'm not really in the mood for a lap dance," Throwing his body weight back, the chair clamored to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. Despite that, he turned his body onto its side, the chair begrudgingly following suit. Dragging himself and the chair towards the speaker and its stand, he heard the creature make a loud protest. Following after its fleeing prey, its bloody feet slapped against the tile ground as it gave chase.

Finally, Leon was within arm's reach of the speaker and its stand and both hands stretched out to take hold. Just as his fingers touched the metal stand, a fleshy foot stamped down hard upon his arms, the pain causing him to shout. Glaring up, Leon could see the creature; he could see the intent in its eyes. "I'm not going down so easily." Putting all of his strength into his legs, he pivoted his legs around, smashing them and the chair right into the creature.

The monster roared as it collapsed into one of the mirrors, shattering it instantly. It fell threw into darkness but Leon didn't waste his time. Grasping the stand firmly, he worked to raise it up and slam it down, driving one of the props through the creature's stomach. It roared in pain, Leon dislodging the stand before slamming it down again and again, each time the creature letting forth a loud roar of agony before finally it writhed and, as Leon dislodged the stand again, it didn't move.

Leon laid there for a minute, breathing hard and watching. Watching to make sure the monster wouldn't get up, wouldn't move. He'd be damned if he was caught off guard. After several more minutes, his breath finally returning to normal, he released the stand from his white-knuckled grip and pushed himself into a sideways seated position. It wasn't comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but it allowed him access to his ankles, where he needed his attention.

To his dissatisfaction, they were steel chains and it would take a great deal of force to break free of them. Looking around the room again, he saw nothing of real use. Heaving a sigh, his eyes travelled back to the creature, its rotting stench catching Leon now that his senses were returning to normal. "Damn, this guy could afford to take a bath once in a while…" That's when something caught his attention, something silver in the flesh of one of its legs. Reaching over, he grabbed at it, yanking it free of its fleshy prison.

The long silver key, coated in blood, caused Leon's heart to skip a beat. _I guess I'm really going to have to play his game._ He was never one for puzzles and riddles and yet, they always seemed to find him. Heaving a sigh, he found the bolt that locked his ankles together and undid them, his legs dropping from their previous suspension and landing on top of each other. Once they were free, he stuck the key into the handcuffs lock, but it didn't fit. Giving an annoyed glare to the inanimate object, he heaved a sigh and stood up, pocketing the useless key for now.

Everything still hurt but he did his best to ignore it. Looking towards the direction of the broken mirror, Leon whispered, "Let the games begin." Walking forward, he stepped over the dead creature and entered the darkness.

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	2. The only thing left Perfect

A/N: I'M BACK! Sorry for the wait. I'd wanted to get this out about a week earlier, but life sort of got in the way of that. Alas, it happens to us all, right? That doesn't matter now, though, because chapter two is out! Oh, and if you're enjoying this story, try reading Operation: Interlude, written by yours truly!

I want to give a huge thanks to those five of you who reviewed! You guys and gals are great and getting to see that you enjoyed the chapter really made my day! So thanks again!

As always, enjoy and review!

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Chapter Two: The Only thing left Perfect

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Leon looked over the stack of files at his desk, feeling a sense of dread wash over him. The only time his desk was this cluttered was when an outbreak had happened or was about too. Neither of which were good things. As if on cue, he saw Chris walk through the door, a dissatisfied look settled across his face. It wasn't every day Leon got to see his friend, Chris, and judging by the paperwork and the look on said friend's face, it defiantly wasn't for a happy occasion.

As he approached, fully geared and an assault rifle resting in his hands, he nodded towards Leon before nodding towards the conference center in the back of the office. Taking the hint, the blonde turned on his heel, grabbing the top file from its place before walking into the open doors of the center. Chris was after him in the matter of a second, closing the door behind himself.

"Leon."

"Chris." The blonde looked his friend up and down, "So, I'm guessing something bad is happening."

Nodding, Chris leaned against the wall, arms still holding the rifle carefully, "The BSAA has been called into this location. There's been a breech."

Leon could feel his heart rate increase. A breech: code for a really big fucking problem. "What kind of breech?" He leaned closer to Chris, the brunette shaking his head grimly.

"The documents on your desk contain every contagion you have housed on the lowest floors of this building," Leon took a second to glance back at his desk, seeing several dozen files sitting in their respective brown folders, "From what we understand of the situation, someone's gotten themselves down there, someone who has no business being there."

It reeked of bioterrorism and it made Leon shudder, "What are you doing about it?"

"The building has been locked down, but we're trying to keep panic to a minimum. The last thing we need is for someone to escape with a vial of one of those diseases during a frenzy." Nodding, Leon looked back out the window, watching as everyone went about their business as if nothing were happening. BSAA soldiers stood at every door, but the sight of guns and armed personal wasn't unusual for the DSO headquarters. "They're calling it a practice lockdown but ultimately, we only have a short amount of time to reach this guy before people start getting suspicious."

"Great, is there any good news to go along with all of this?" Chris frowned at the sarcasm before he turned his head towards the conference door.

"I'm here to escort you down. My men, myself and you have been authorized to move in." Giving another nod, Leon stepped away from his friend, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Why me?" the blonde asked, his eyes examining Chris' imposing body.

"Because I trust you. That, and you know this facility better than I do." It was a simple answer, but Leon would take it. Stepping outside of the conference room, Leon plopped the file off at his desk and readied to follow after Chris when someone stopped him. Turning, he saw the file clerk was there, looking nervously at the stack he'd placed on Leon's desk.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, his eyes trailing to Chris and the other BSAA agents. The man had to have known about the content of the files he'd delivered, it was evident in his face.

Leon smiled at him, "Yes. You can put those away, thanks."

"Alright," the man gave a nervous smile to Leon before gathering up a couple of the files and heading away. Leon reached into his desk and pulled out a pistol. Checking the clip and the safety, he holstered it before following after Chris. They all reached the elevator quickly and, upon entering, Chris clicked the desired floor before swiping his ID badge. Instantly, the floor light lit up and the elevator doors closed. Standing in silence, Leon and the BSAA watched as the digital numbers changed every step of the way, finally reading B10. The doors pulled open, Leon and Chris being greeted by another handful of men.

Chris stepped forward, "I'm sure you all know Agent Kennedy. We're all here to find the perpetrator. If you see him, don't shoot to kill unless necessary. We are considering him armed and dangerous since he may be carrying on his person any vial of the several contagions that are housed down here. Please be careful and, if you see him, inform the rest of us of his location." The men nodded, muttering to themselves as they divided themselves into teams.

Leon gave Chris a smirk, "Nice speech. I'm inspired."

"I'm glad someone is, Leon." A small smile crossed Chris' face as he looked at his friend, then, he turned and motioned for everyone to break away and head towards their predetermined destinations. Leon and Chris would be scouting out the lowest level, the level where the worst diseases were stored. It could only be reached by stairwell, built that way as a precaution for situations just like this one.

"Ready?" Chris asked, leveling is assault rifle.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Leon replied, turning off the safety. Walking slowly down the stairs, the two rounded turn after turn in typical military fashion, one keeping an eye ahead while the other kept an eye behind. It didn't take that long before they reached the 13th floor, dubbed the 10-3 floor, which was painted upon the wall. A bright red door sat locked in front of them, the word 'Biohazard' scribbled across it. Chris readied himself at the door, nodding to Leon who ducked down as he swiped his ID card and pushed it open, readying his pistol right after.

As the steel door swung open, a long hallway with several drawers placed in the walls greeted them. Leon rose, stepping out and turning his gun this way and that. One massive hallway housed the door, rounding off to other drawer-covered hallways.

Chris' voice echoed badly in the halls despite his whispering, "It looks like none of the drawers have been tampered with." Leon looked forward, seeing the bright red piece of tape that covered every drawers opening. If someone opened them, the tape would rip, drawing immediate attention to itself. Only someone with security access to the floor could get into the closet with the tape required to be repair it after samplings had been done.

"I guess that's a good sign," he spoke, nodding towards the right. Chris gave an affirmative nod as well, turning himself to the left. Letting the door shut silently behind them, they headed in their directions.

Leon stepped silently, stopping at the first hall. Pressing his back against the wall, he turned his head to the side to glance into the depth of the narrow pathway, no one there. Silently treading past, he repeated his motion at the next hall and the next, again finding nothing. Increasing his pace, he reached the fourth and final hall. Resting his back against the white walls, he sucked in a deep breath, sparing a glance towards Chris. He was done searching his area, heading back towards the door they'd both entered from. Looking back where he needed to focus, he drew in another breath before turning the corner, pointing his gun down the hall.

But it was empty.

Lowering his gun, he glanced towards Chris, whom raised an eyebrow at him. The blonde gave a soft shrug, "Nothing's here. He must not have come to this floor." Right as he said that, Chris' body jerked to the side, something tearing it down one of the hallways.

"Chris!" Running towards his friend, he turned where the man had disappeared only to find a disturbing creature with several sprouted arms, its multiple hands constricting Chris. Leveling his gun, Leon shot two rounds into the monster's head, causing it to rear and release the brunette. Running in and grabbing his comrade, he dragged him back as the creature tossed itself about, trying to recover from the injury. It let out a low moan before looking towards Leon, its blacked skin glossy in the limited light of the area. "What the hell is that thing?"

Chris spat, "Hell if I know." Getting to his feet, he held his gun steady, spitting some of the blood from his mouth. "All I know is it wasn't there before."

"Then where…?" There was no time for questions, the creature rushing the two agents while its arms swung madly. Chris and Leon jumped out of the way, effectively placing the creature between them. "What now?"

"What else, Leon," Chris said, his gun cocking, "Shoot the damn thing!" A hail of bullets left the assault rifle, slamming into the blackened flesh of the monster before them. Leon steadied his gun, shooting at the creature's head. But with each passing minute, the bullets seemed to be less and less effective.

The monster threw one of its arms out, the thing stretching beyond normal length straight towards Leon. He dodged, rolling to the side as the fingers slammed against the tiled floor. The small ceramic pieces fractured under the weight, pieces of broken tile flying and landing on Leon. "Shit, what is this thing made out of?" Leon heard Chris say as he loaded in another clip.

Clicking the button on his headset, Leon spoke, "B.O.W on the 10-3 floor. I repeat, B.O.W on the 10-3 floor." Standing up, Leon dashed away, creating distance. He looked to Chris, who'd already emptied another round into the creature, "This isn't working!"

"No shit, Leon! Do you want to tell me something else I already know?"

Looking desperately around the area, he suddenly remembered where he was.

Hundreds of vials of deadly virus and diseases sat in this room. If one of them ruptured and broke, the entire city would become another Raccoon, only this time it wouldn't be some city in the middle of nowhere, it would be the capital of the United States of America. This country had already recently lost its President, it couldn't stand losing it again, let alone both of the houses and the supreme court.

"Careful Chris!" Leon's words came just as the creature threw another arm at him, leaping out of the way; he disappeared into one of the halls, red tape littering his vision. One strip caught his eyes. It wasn't straight; it was slightly crooked, even bubbled at one point. _Shit._

The creature rounded the corner, its hardened skin catching on the light. Leon looked it over as he backed up, catching sight of Chris standing behind it, shooting at it some more. The monster didn't so much as flinch as the bullets came in contact with its hardened shell. As it stumbled towards the agent, he searched desperately. His gun was useless and kicking the beast sure as hell wasn't a good idea. It reached back one of its many arms, readying a strike.

Leon was staring straight at it, eyes locked on its.

Eyes.

They weren't covered by the black shell.

lifting his gun, he got its eyes in his sights. Its arm came rushing forward, headed straight for Leon, ready to send him straight throw the reinforced wall and several vials of deadly viruses. "Eat this," Leon pulled the trigger, the pistol discharging a bullet that zoomed threw the air, lodging itself right in the creature's eye. It wailed and bellowed, stumbling back and nearly landing on Chris. The B.S.A.A agent rushed towards Leon, keeping his gun trained on the wailing monster.

"You okay?"

"Aim for its eyes," was all Leon said as the creature stammered to pick itself up, Chris let out a roar as he shot out several bullets, many of which landed upon the monster's face and eyes. It hissed, body jerking as Chris continued to fire. It thrashed around, limbs sprawling everywhere as it attempted to claw and grab at whatever was causing it pain. But finally, the blacked crust across its face broke open, a mix of flesh and blood oozing its way throw the opening. It stopped moving, body slumping to the ground as the hardened shell began to fracture apart, more of the messy liquid slushing forth.

Just then, men appeared on the stairs, rushing inside with their guns pointed. "Captain! What happened here?"

Chris didn't even look at him, his eyes and gun still trained on the creature. "I think it's dead…" His men slowly lowered their weapons, several of them getting to work securing the rest of the area as well as pulling out scanners to check for any viral abnormalities in the air. The rest approached Chris and Leon, looking over the fleshy, bloody mess that was on the ground.

Leon heaved a sigh, walking towards the tape he'd noticed earlier. He was hoping against all hope he'd only been seeing things, desperation taking over his senses but, sure enough, that wasn't the case. It sat a little below eye level so the blonde knelt down, Chris looking over at him curiously. "What is it, Leon?"

"This tape isn't uniform with the rest. Whoever did this was in a rush." He looked at his friend, opening his palm towards him, "Hand me your knife, would you?" Doing so, Chris watched as Leon leveled the knife with the tape, cutting it open cleanly. Putting the knife down carefully, he placed his fingers gently on the handle. Tension hung in the air, fear leaping between their hearts. In one solid yank, the drawer was open, the nesting place for four vials greeting them.

Three of the four were there, unharmed and nuzzled away in their cushioned holds. Looking up at Chris, he watched as his comrade drug a gloved hand down his face, "God help us now." Leon's eyes looked towards the label for the shelf, the one that sat on the inside of the drawer. Typed by a type writer and printed with bold black ink, Leon saw the words he dreaded seeing:

C-Virus (Enhanced Strain)


End file.
